What a brand identity project costs and includes

A brand identity project with us typically costs £8k to £15k plus VAT at 20%, and the fee pays for a strategy, a visual identity, a tone of voice and a design system.

This price range is our own guide, dated November 2026, and is not a quote. The final cost depends entirely on the scope of your specific brief. We calculate every project based on what it needs to do, how it connects to other elements and what your team will manage. Following an initial call and a short discovery phase, we provide a written proposal that details the exact pricing for your project.

The work we do covers these four core areas:

  • Brand strategy: This stage defines who you reach, how the brand is seen and what it says. You receive a brief strategy paper as part of this work.
  • Visual identity: We develop the logo, typography, colour palette and imagery. You receive master files and brand rules to use for your identity.
  • Tone of voice: This covers how the brand writes and speaks to its audience. You receive voice guidelines that include practical examples.
  • Design system: This consists of components and variables ready for web and print, delivered as a Figma library.

You own every file at the end of the project. This includes the master files, guidelines and the Figma library, allowing your team to use them without us. We prepare these assets so they are ready for immediate application.

A design system does a different job from a PDF of rules. While a static document can be reinterpreted, our design system is built as a library for Figma and Webflow. Your team, printers and other agencies use this same library to keep new pages on brand. It provides the building blocks for consistent application across different platforms.

Our web design service builds the website using this same design system. This approach means nothing is lost during the handover between branding and web development. It allows for a cohesive transition from identity to digital presence.

The project fee does not cover the following items, which each need their own budget:

  • Print and packaging: We suggest looking elsewhere for the design of physical print materials and product packaging.
  • Social and campaign content: Regular social media assets and specific campaign content are not included in the brand identity fee.
  • Marketing services: We refer SEO campaigns, paid ads and copywriting retainers to specialists we trust.

Budgeting for these separate areas is necessary to maintain a complete marketing presence. A brand identity provides the foundation, but ongoing specialist work handles specific growth tasks. We focus on building the core assets so your business has a professional starting point.

How long a branding project takes

A branding project with us takes 2 to 16 weeks, depending on how much of the brand we create and how deep the work goes. The scope of the project dictates the timeline. Your own decision speed also sets the pace for the entire process. We need to know who signs off on the work before we start. This clarity prevents delays during critical stages of the project.

The timeline is broken down into four distinct phases. Each stage has a specific purpose and requirements for your team. We provide a proposal that lists every stage with clear dates to help you plan.

  • Discover: We agree on the audience, positioning, and what the brand needs to say. You receive a positioning overview. We need time with your founders or leadership team to complete this.
  • Direction: We present two or three brand routes. Each route is applied to a real home page design so you can judge the brand where it will actually live. We need one round of focused feedback from your team.
  • Refine: We complete the chosen route and draft the brand guidelines and Figma library. You sign off on the final identity.
  • Handover: We deliver the master files, brand guidelines, and the Figma library. We need a dedicated brand owner on your side to manage this transition.

Applying different routes to a real home page design is a practical way to work. It allows you to see how the brand looks in a real-world context rather than as a static concept. Seeing these options on a website layout helps you judge the brand where it will actually live. This approach can save a round of changes later because you are testing the identity against real design requirements from the start. A single round of focused feedback is much more efficient when you have the right people in the room to make decisions. Having decision-makers present during this stage keeps the project moving forward.

Each phase builds on the last to create a complete identity. You can learn more about our process by reading about how we work. We prepare the assets so they are ready for your website.

A trade mark process runs alongside the design work. This process can be longer than the branding project itself. According to GOV.UK, the timeline for a trade mark involves several steps:

  • Examination: The Intellectual Property Office sends an examination report within 2 to 3 weeks of a trade mark application. An applicant has 2 months to resolve any objections.
  • Opposition period: A trade mark application is published in the trade marks journal for 2 months. During this time, anyone may oppose it.
  • Typical total: If there are no issues, it usually takes around 3 to 4 months from application for a UK trade mark to be granted.

Because the legal process takes time, it is worth checking and filing for your name early. Doing this before the identity is final helps prevent complications later. You should plan your project timeline with these external factors in mind.

The costs on top of the design fee

Budget at least £205 for a UK trade mark and around £7.99 a year for a .co.uk or £11.99 a year for a .com (both excluding VAT) on top of the design fee, and make sure your contract hands you the rights. These prices were read on 9 November 2026 and are subject to change.

  • Trade mark, online: £205 for a single trade mark in one class, plus £60 for each additional class.
  • Right Start check: £125 plus £30 per extra class to check the application meets the rules, then another £125 plus £30 per extra class to continue.
  • Logo in several colours: A series application can cover up to 6 versions of a trade mark, where the first 2 versions are in the fee and each extra version costs £60.
  • Renewal: A UK trade mark lasts 10 years and must be renewed every 10 years to stay in force.
  • Registered design: Costs from £60 for one design to £185 for up to 50 designs.
  • Domain names: A .co.uk or .uk domain costs £7.99 a year and a .com costs £11.99 a year, both excluding VAT at the same price on renewal.
  • Figma seats: A Full seat is $16 a month and a Collab seat is $3 a month.
  • Fonts: Fonts under the SIL Open Font License are free and open source.

Certain factors can stop a name from being successfully registered as a trade mark. A name cannot describe the goods or services it relates to, be too common and non-distinctive, or be misleading. You should also choose trade mark classes and terms only for your business plans for the next 5 years, as you cannot add more terms after you send the application.

Buying your domains before you file for a trade mark is a practical step. A trade mark application is published on GOV.UK as soon as you apply. This means someone could use those details to buy the website domain for your brand name. Securing the domains first prevents this type of complication during the registration process.

Ownership of your brand assets is a critical part of the project. Copyright protection in the UK is automatic, meaning you do not apply or pay a fee and there is no register for copyright works. If you are self-employed, you usually own the intellectual property even if someone else commissioned the work, unless your contract gives them the rights. A transfer or sale of copyright requires a written, signed document known as an assignment.

Check that your contract specifically assigns the rights to every file you receive. You should also take legal advice on your own specific case.

How to compare branding quotes, and whether it pays back

Compare branding quotes on what each one delivers and who does the work, then judge the spend by how long the brand will carry your business.

A full branding project is a worthwhile investment in several specific scenarios:

  • New venture: You are launching a new product, service, or company.
  • Brand and offer out of step: Your current brand no longer matches what you actually sell.
  • Outgrown brand: Your business has grown, but your visual identity has not kept up.
  • New website planned: You want a brand identity to serve as the foundation for a new website.

Established companies also require rebranding when their look and feel no longer align with their current business. A brand identity is not just for start-ups.

When you receive a quote, use this checklist to ask the agency specific questions:

  • Strategy: is a written strategy included;
  • Routes: how many routes you see and whether each is shown on a real page;
  • Feedback: how many rounds;
  • Files: whether you get master files, voice guidelines and a design library;
  • Rights: whether the contract assigns ownership;
  • Dates: whether the proposal lists every stage with dates;
  • People: who does the work.

Understanding these details helps you see exactly what is being purchased. For example, knowing if the strategy is a written document or just a conversation clarifies the level of detail you receive. You should also verify if the design routes are applied to real pages, as this shows how the identity works in a live context. Checking for master files and design libraries prevents issues during future web development or print runs. It is also vital to confirm that the contract legally assigns ownership of all files to you. Finally, knowing who will actually perform the design and build work helps you understand the level of expertise involved.

Measuring the payback of a brand can be done by looking at how well an identity supports business growth. We built Jetify, a fighter-jet flight booking business, from an initial idea to a live brand including the name, identity, website and booking flow. This business now receives over 235,000 sessions a year, with 93% coming from organic search and 92 keywords ranking in the top three on Google. We also took LuxuryTrainTickets.com from a name to a high-end rail brand that makes over £2.5M in annual sales, mostly from organic search. This business made over £1M in sales during its second year of operation after launching during the pandemic. Both Jetify and LuxuryTrainTickets.com are among our own businesses.

While these brands support the business, sales and traffic come from the whole company rather than the brand alone. The value of design is reflected in the wider economy as well. According to Design Council's Design Economy research, the UK design economy was valued at £136.7bn of GVA in 2023, which was a 40% increase from 2019. The research also notes that the UK has 2.27m design workers as of 2025, up 15% since 2020, with 80% of those designers working in wider industries.

Bring your brief and what the brand must do to us. You can also read about our brand design service.

Sources

Researched and fact-checked with the help of AI tools and Ahrefs data.